


Midnight Worries

by Bolt41319



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-17
Updated: 2018-09-17
Packaged: 2019-07-13 10:04:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,393
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16015652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bolt41319/pseuds/Bolt41319
Summary: With a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder, Regina hears Roland's sobs and rushes out of bed.Inspired by @outlawqueenbey's adorable "Midnight Snuggles" OQDoodle.Written for #InspiredbyOQ Day 1





	Midnight Worries

There was crying coming from somewhere in the house. She opened her eyes slowly, stretched over to look at Robin as he lets out a loud snore and buries his face into his pillow. She waits, and with the crack of thunder and flash of lightning, she hears another choking sob. Her heart tugs as she climbs out of bed and rushes into Roland’s room, watching as he clutches his pillow to his face and sniffles out another cry. 

“Roland, baby what’s wrong?” 

She sees his mop of brown hair shake, pressing his face harder into his pillow. Regina walks over and carefully pulls his covers back, catching him as he launches himself into her arms. 

She can feel feel his lip trembling against her shoulder, wraps her arms around him to hold him close to her chest. She sees another flash of lightning out the window, and with the crack and rumble of the thunder he cries harder, pressing himself closer to her. 

“Honey, is it the storm?”

“It’s so loud” he cries against her chest. 

She climbs into his little bed and shifts him in her arms so he’s sitting in her lap. Reaching around, she grabs his stuffed monkey and tucks it between them, feeling his hand stretch out from where it’s squished between them to grip the monkey and pull it closer to him. “Roland, you’ve heard storms before when you lived in the forest with Papa, remember?”

He nods, and she feels his little body shake as he sniffles and snuggles closer to her. “Our tent would shake and Papa would come in and give me a big hug. Sometimes Mama would tell me stories so I could go to sleep.” 

“Right. But you see, this house is big and in this world, our houses protect us from the rain and all the loud thunder and lightning. But it’s still okay to be scared.” 

He finally lifts his head up, and she has to hide the chuckle at how sad he looks. Regina smiles and presses a kiss to his forehead, using her thumbs to wipe his tears. 

“You know” she whispers, carding her fingers through his curly hair, “Henry used to get scared during storms, just like this?”

“Really” he sucks in, his eyes growing wide. With their return from the Enchanted Forest, he and Henry had quickly grown close. Roland and Henry had grown close since he and Robin’s return from the Enchanted Forest. Roland looked up to Henry, and on nights like this where Henry was with Emma, Roland would sneak into his room and look through his comics. 

“Really. He used to crawl up into my bed and hide under the covers until the storm went away when he was little, just like you. And if it was a big storm and both of us were awake, we’d go make hot chocolate and watch the rain on the big window in the kitchen.”

Roland winces as another crack of thunder lights the sky, and pulls his monkey closer to his chest. “Can we do that?”

“Sure, let’s go do that.” She shifts him in her arms and lifts him as she stands, cralding him to her chest as his little legs wrap around her.

“Regina, do you think Spider-Man got scared during storms?” he asks, the hand not holding his monkey gently pinching and pulling at his spider-man pajamas. 

“Oh absolutely.” She makes it into the kitchen and sets him down on the counter. “Even the best superheroes get scared sometimes.”

Roland goes on explaining a story Henry read to him out of one of his comics about Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus as she moves around the kitchen, getting out the ingredients for hot chocolate. She flips open the lid of the coffee maker and drops the first hot chocolate pod in, setting his Avengers mug under the spout. 

“Papa says you’re a superhero, did you know that?”

Regina stops and looks at him carefully. “Does he now?” The machine beep and she takes his cup out and swaps it with hers, dropping a few ice cubes into his so he doesn’t burn his tongue. 

“Yeah! He told me in a story one night. He said you’re a hero because you sac- sacrif-”

“Sacrifice?” 

“That’s the word. He said you sacrificed yourself to keep other people safe, and that’s what makes people a hero. Henry said it too. He says that makes you the best superhero of all.”

She feel the tears welling in her eyes but wills herself not to cry in front of Roland, so she turns quickly to put whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon into his mug. “Your Papa and Henry give me too much credit. But that’s very sweet of them.” She quickly brushes the tears from her eyes and turns and sets his cup next to him while hers brews. She presses a kiss to the top of his head when he winces at another crack of lightning. 

“You keep me safe too” he smiles brightly. “Like when you saved me from the flying monkeys.” 

“That I did. And i’d do it all over again.” She smiles brightly at him and turns to get her mug, dressing it up like she did with his. “Alright, how about you and monkey climb up onto my back and we’ll go sit at the table to drink our hot chocolate?”

He nods enthusiastically and she turns, letting him climb up and wrap himself around her. Once settled, she grab their cups and walks them over to the table. She sets down the cups and shifts him to her front, sitting down with him cuddled into her lap. 

They both lift their mugs and quietly watch the rain fall against the window. Roland sips on his hot chocolate, telling Regina stories about living in the rainstorms in the forest and how much nicer it is to watch them from inside. “It’s not that scary anymore” he says, setting his cup back on the table. He curls himself more into her chest with a yawn. 

“Regina?”

“Yes baby?”

“I love you” he tells her, his eyes fluttering closed. 

She leans in and presses a kiss to his brow, whispering an  _ I love you too _ into his hair. 

Her eyes start to drift closed as she listens to the rain, when she feels a hand curl around her shoulder. “Hey, love” Robin whispers, kissing her cheek. 

She sucks in a breath and her eyes open slowly, a smile growing on her face. “He’s out” she whispers as Robin takes Roland from her, shifting him so his head rests on his shoulder. 

Robin looks down at the cups of hot chocolate as she collects them to take back to the kitchen. “I could have gotten him.”

“It’s fine. I’ll take all the cuddles I can get from him.” She reaches a hand up to run through Roland’s hair, and carefully slips the falling monkey from his arms. “I miss Henry at that age. He was so happy and he giggled, all the time. I loved it.” 

He leans in and presses a kiss to the warm smile spread across her cheeks. She takes his cheek into her hand and kisses him back slowly. “He told me he loves me” she whispers. 

Robin wraps his free arm around her and tugs her close to his chest. “We both love you. I know it’s been tough since we’ve been back-”

“Just a casual fighting my sister, that I didn’t know existed, because she stole our memories” she chuckles. 

“Exactly” he laughs. “But really, Regina. I love you, and Roland loves you. And I truly love how much you love my son.” 

“I love you too, both of you” she sighs, kissing him. 

Her hand slips down into his and she tugs him towards back to the stairs. The storm still crashes outside as they tuck Roland back into bed, his monkey safe in his arms. They watch him for a few moments as his chest rises and falls, his little body curled into his blankets. Robin stands behind her and wraps his arms around her. 

“Come on love, let’s get back to bed.” 

She turns her head and gives him a small kiss, tangling her fingers with his as he leads her back to their room. 


End file.
